Gaining a heart of wisdom
After holding babies close, Holding hands on the walk to the mailbox, Holding feet to the fire, Holding loosely to the ones who have left the nest (Say it and say it until you believe it: "roots and wings," "roots and wings"), My hands and heart are learning the contours of a new holding: An… Continue reading Each Day By Name
For the reader who writes (or for the writer who reads), certain authors are a gold mine. With a bracing vocabulary, a precision of thought, and a way with a sentence that manages to be both wise and witty, David Bentley Hart has a perspective on the world that requires a careful reading -- that… Continue reading Wicked Splendid
Elisabeth Elliot coined the most memorable definition of human suffering that I have ever heard: "Suffering is wanting what you don't have -- or having what you don't want." These words came to mind often as I read Between Pain and Grace, because Gerald W. Peterman and Andrew J. Schmutzer have initiated a fresh conversation which does… Continue reading Pain, Emotion, and God
When I pause for a minute to ask my self what I really want in life, my unedited first response is . . . well, embarrassing. I want to be happy, and my shallow definition of a "happy" life looks something like this: a vehicle that never breaks down, children who behave well and experience… Continue reading A Theology of Happiness
The epigraph for Psalm 142 reads: “A contemplation of David. A prayer when he was in the cave.” How wonderful that David knew God could hear him from his gloomy hiding place. These thoughts, shared today, were written during the summer of 2014, at the beginning of my mum’s precipitous decline, and from my season… Continue reading A Prayer from the Cave
My grown-up boys have a particular smile that I see whenever they come to the house, and I start hauling food out of the refrigerator. It's a combination of, "She really can't help herself, can she?" and "Well . . . I might be persuaded to eat a sandwich." Even though I can't keep a… Continue reading “Mother” Is a Verb, Too
It is staggering to think that the life of faith is really an invitation to share in the nature of God. He is holy, and he calls the believer to a life of holiness, providing the means and the might to make it happen. He is loving, and He pours His love through us in… Continue reading Toward a Theology of Reverence and Awe
The rhubarb has made its wrinkled and deep green appearance, and it's time for me to plant the peas, the annual spring gamble for this risk-averse gardener. I've driven stakes into the warming soil, because when I opened the package, I realized (too late!) that I had purchased seeds for a variety that requires a… Continue reading Beginners All Our Life
The fallacy of circularity -- the accusation that all arguments for the trustworthiness of Scripture come round to the Bible's own truth claims -- has been leveled against Christians, and sometimes it's well-founded. How, then, is a serious student of the Word to explain and validate her certainty that when she opens the pages of… Continue reading A Well-Grounded Trust
The infinite variety in nature, the curious complexity of human behavior, the synchronicity of multiple systems in our own anatomy -- and in the solar system -- all point, through general revelation, to the nature of God: multi-faceted, magnificent, and yet mysterious. Special revelation in Scripture picks up where creation leaves off, and Beth Willis… Continue reading Meditations on The Name
Living Our Days 